No complaints for months then 4 come along at the same time

Agencies and other headaches, keys and cleaners, running costs and contracts...in short, all the things we spend so much of our time doing behind the scenes.<br>
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charles cawley
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No complaints for months then 4 come along at the same time

Post by charles cawley »

At times, I almost pity AirBnB when the next horror show on the TV pops up. Every agency has bad days when things do not go well. The larger the operation, and AirBnB wants to advertise rivals into extinction to be the only show in town, the more vulnerable it is to brand smearing.

They appear to make the cardinal error of failing to spend enough management time and effort addressing complaints. Sausage machine management systems are unsuited to this purpose.

A couple of months back, after a very long time, four complaints popped up in quick succession.

1. Smoke alarm batteries ran low causing the deeply irritating incessant peeping. When I went round to change them, I agreed with the owners that, although it had caused 4 hours of sleep loss, this was worth a significant refund.

2. Cleaning was not up to scratch. In this case, the owner was so good at handling the situation, one day's refund was agreed. And it was followed by feedback from some of the guests, so good, that we published it.

3. A dog tried to eat some spectacles. Despite being warned about the puppy, a claim was made for 1,000 Euros. We settled for £100- about 113 Euros. The situation was complicated and it took about 3 hours of my time, on and off, to sort this out.

4. Disappointed elderly guests who were bought a holiday by their daughter without realizing, as we say in the wording, that the accommodation does not have the gloss of hotel accommodation and is ascetic. It was a sculptor's studio.

This took about half a day to sort out. It was difficult because there was the disappointment of the daughter, her parents, the owners and, of course, of us. All had separate views on the situation. It took a bit of diplomacy and more than the tact usually at my disposal.


Most major booking services make the cardinal error of failing to treat complaints and questions of compensation with due care and attention. Generally, owners do not make a bottom line profit- especially those renting out bricks and mortar properties. In that case, a return on capital is virtually unknown. The vast majority do it, partly, for reasons of hospitality. They get pleasure and satisfaction from the business which they take as part of the profit. This is why complaints can really hurt.

We have a policy of always contributing to the refund, either by reverse commission or, even, with direct payments. It pays to minimize emotional upset by helping to sort things out. This is a key difference between a part service agency like AirBnB and a full service booking agency. (as opposed to a managing agent). Although the Daughter's gift was a difficult, I have to say the puppy eating the specs was the hardest I have ever had to deal with. When complaints loom, the saying that Justice should be tempered by prudence should always be kept in mind.


The total cost of all four, to us, was around £150, excluding the time advising and negotiating... money well spent. Add, say a day and a half management time, and it's still a good deal. It would have been more except that, in the second case where cleaning could have been better, although we offered, the owner refused to accept it. The gain by showing we are in it together vastly outweighs the cost although, at times in the middle of negotiations, the thought of old style methods of dealing with complaints can, for a fleeting moment, seem idiotically attractive.

The attitude of a booking agent to handling complaints is the real test. As a small operator I must admit, although its tempting fate, TV programs about AirBnB's bad luck and complaint handling style do us no harm.
Last edited by charles cawley on Tue Sep 27, 2016 3:02 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Nemo
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Post by Nemo »

Very interesting Charles as always. It's something I've had to handle twice recently as an agent for a property on my books. It's very tough but I go way beyond what I'm actually paid for to try and resolve matters.

One of your scenarios taps into a current dread of mine. I have accepted a booking by a daughter for her parents. It's never ideal as each generation will have a very different outlook as to what make s a successful holiday. I can only hope that as I have many happy elderly guests, it will suit them.
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French Cricket
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Re: No complaints for months then 4 come along at the same t

Post by French Cricket »

charles cawley wrote: The attitude of a booking agent to handling complaints is the real test.
How true is that! And substitute 'owner' for 'booking agent' and the same thing applies.

A fascinating and (as usual) well thought out and balanced read, Charles. Interesting that you found the 'puppy eating specs' incident the most challenging - I can imagine some owners would just diss that and think it was a try on.
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charles cawley
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Post by charles cawley »

The puppy was caught having a lovely time with the unattended specs and an irresistible ball of wool. The matter of possible contributory negligence, the age of the prescription as well as the nature and quality of the lenses and frames were all relevant.

Fortunately, we had a photo of the specs. We did request evidence of value but had, at least, a good idea of the value of the designer frames.

Complicated? I should say so.
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